A giant chessboard is
on the blank wall of an apartment building located on 212 E. 48th Street east of
3rd Avenue on the east side of Manhattan.

Long Description:

An upscale apartment building at 212 E. 48th Street in the Turtle Bay area of
Manhattan happens to have a completely blank wall on its west side and a small
open lot used as a pocket park below which makes the wall very visible, a rare
combination in midtown Manhattan. The owners of the building next door at 747
3rd Avenue, the Kaufman brothers, were unhappy with the appearance of the blank
wall and decided to make this arrangement useful and unique by installing a four
storey high giant chessboard and recreating great chess games of the past. The
chessboard is claimed to be the largest in the world.

The board is constructed of large metal beams. 2.5' diameter blue and tan
round disks, with the standard chess symbol inscribed, are used. Moves are made
every Wednesday by workers using hydraulic cherry pickers. A flag next to the
board signals who has the next move or the status of a finished game.
A nearby sign is inscribed:

767

For your information about the Chess game in progressseen
the Concierge in the lobby.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

The Big, Big Penny
sculpture is in the lobby of the 1325 Avenue of the Americas Building in midtown
Manhattan.

Long Description:

The entrance to the
lobby of the the 1325 Avenue of the Americas Building is not on the Avenue of
the Americas, what New Yorkers still refer to as 6th Avenue. To find it you
must, in fact, go to the north side of 53rd Street between 7th Avenue and 6 1/2
Avenue. Yes, there is a 6 1/2 Avenue in this area of Manhattan.

Big, Big
Penny is one of renown pop art sculptor Tom Otterness whimsical creations. A 6'
high by 5.5' wide by 1' thick giant copy of the tail side of a Lincoln Memorial
penny is embellished with his signature mini-people. The Big Big Penny near the
north wall of the lobby and is the same, tails, on both sides so you need not
work your way around the back. The bronze sculpture was created in
1993.

As in much of Otterness' work, the sculpture goes beyond pop art.
It is an allegorical and humorous depiction of the common man's struggling
through life. The giant penny represents big money. Riding high, on top of the
giant penny, are three mini-people who, with their top-hats and champagne
glasses, represent the wealthy. A smaller figure, perhaps a domestic worker, is
shown supporting the wealthy woman. At the bottom right of the penny are three
workers, in hard hats, attempting to roll the penny while fourth person, on the
lower right, is being crushed by the large penny.

Graffiti, spanning five
concrete slabs of the Berlin Wall, are located in a pocket park on the north
side of E. 53rd Street west of Madison Avenue in Manhattan

Long Description:

Five original graffiti painted concrete slabs from the Berlin Wall are on
display. Noted graffiti artists Thierry Noir and Kiddy Citny painted the garish
images of large heads on this section of the wall while it was the Communist
built barrier between East and West Germany. Thierry Noir's is responsible for
the left section and Kiddy Citny the right section.

Since the collapse of the Communist regime in East Germany, the wall was
dismantled and parts, such as these, have been donated and sold around the
world. There is a fascinating history behind the highly sought graffiti artwork
that appears on the wall.

In the early 1980's simple graffiti including political slogans, began to
appear on the wall. Then graffiti artists such as Thierry and Citny added their
hastily drawn paintings, mostly of large human heads. Painting graffiti, or just
being near the wall, was absolutely prohibited. So, Thierry and Citny had to
quickly complete their work while the East German guards were not looking.

The artists were not trying to beautify the wall. Because so many were killed
trying to get over the Berlin wall to escape to West Berlin, to them, the wall
would always be ugly. Instead, they were performing a revolutionary act. By
painting graffiti on the Berlin wall they meant to transform it, to make it
ridiculous, and to help to destroy it.

Today, the Berlin wall graffiti of Thierry Noir and Kiddy Citny have become
sought after symbols of the freedom achieved after the reunification of Germany
and the end of the Cold War.

A small brass sign next to the wall is inscribed:

THE BERLIN WALLArtists: Thierry Noir - Kiddy
Citnythese five original sections of the Berlin Wall marked the border
betweenEast Berlin and West Berlin from1961 - 1989

Hershey World is
located at the corner of 48th and Broadway in Times Square in New York
City.

Long Description:

Hershey World affords
a bonanza of three dimensional art and a feast for the eyes. Many of their
products are featured in large works of 3D art that wrap around the corner of
the building above the their store in Times Square.

On the Broadway side
there is a huge version of a box of Hershey's Cocoa above a large cup with the
works HERSHEY'S COCOA written on its side. Below the cup are three Hershey's
miniature chocolate products: Krackle, Mr. Goodbar and Special Dark. To the left
is a round package of IceBreakers Mints

On the 48th Street side there is
a six storey tall Hershey Bar above and to the left of a pyramid of Hershey
Kisses. Below is a York Peppermint Patty and a roll of
BreathSavers.

The Courthouse at Saint
Maarten is located on Front Street directly north of the Captain Hodge Wharf at
the north end of Cyrus W. Wathely Square.

Long Description:

The Courthouse
building is the most prominent landmark on Philipsburg's Front Street. This
white wooden structure with green trim is topped with a cupola, which is a bell
tower housing a 25 bell carillon. It was built in 1973. The carved wooden
pineapple above the cupola it the international symbol of welcome. A clock is
located below a shuttered window on the cupola. The coat of arms of Saint Maarten
is below the cupola. It features several national symbols.

Shield with
rising sun
A brown pelican, the national bird
The Courthouse
The
border monument
Orange sage, the national flower
The motto - Semper Pro
Grediens - Always Progressing

The courthouse was originally the home of
the town's founder, Commander John Philips. Over the years it has served as a
jail, fire station, and post office. Today it is used solely as a courthouse.
The bell tower houses a 25 bell carillon. The pineapple on the building's roof
is an international symbol of welcome.

Saint Maarten is now independent
and issues its own stamps and currency. Before 2010 it was part of the
Netherlands Antilles. The stamp was issued in 2012 by the Saint Maarten as part of a three stamp set depicting national monuments.

About Me

My interest in travel and exploration took me to all 50 states, much of Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, as well as some of Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. As I got older my outdoor activities shifted from hiking to orienteering to geocaching to waymarking.